2014 and up guys with funky electrical issues.

Mcarlo24 · June 4, 2018

I have a 2014 LTZ and first noticed the Powring Steering Loss this past winter... Since then I have been intermittenly getting the Service Stabilitrak Notification with Chime, Head Lights Flickering, Park Assist Notification with Chime and most recently the A/C cutting off for a second or two... I also noticed while in my Garage Seeing my Head Lights flickering I tried to use the Window Buttons and The lights went out for a second... So I did the G218 Ground Fix buy Cutting away the Insulation that was trapped under the Terminal at the G218 Stud and I did the Passenger Side one as well... It Did Not fix the Electrical issues... I didn't clean the terminal nor the stud base... Should I and HOW do you do that?

Thanks

Edited June 5, 2018 by Mcarlo24

Aassuuhh Dude · June 5, 2018

I have the exact problem where my lights flicker and stuff too and I could never find a video on youtube or anyone who knew how to fix it until this. Thank you for your help man!

Mcarlo24 · June 5, 2018

5 hours ago, Aassuuhh Dude said:

I have the exact problem where my lights flicker and stuff too and I could never find a video on youtube or anyone who knew how to fix it until this. Thank you for your help man!

I assumed this fixed yours.. Did you do any cleaning around this G218 Ground?

adamj2121 · June 5, 2018

On 6/4/2018 at 9:36 AM, Mcarlo24 said:

I have a 2014 LTZ and first noticed the Powring Steering Loss this past winter... Since then I have been intermittenly getting the Service Stabilitrak Notification with Chime, Head Lights Flickering, Park Assist Notification with Chime and most recently the A/C cutting off for a second or two... I also noticed while in my Garage Seeing my Head Lights flickering I tried to use the Window Buttons and The lights went out for a second... So I did the G218 Ground Fix buy Cutting away the Insulation that was trapped under the Terminal at the G218 Stud and I did the Passenger Side one as well... It Did Not fix the Electrical issues... I didn't clean the terminal nor the stud base... Should I and HOW do you do that?

Thanks

You would only need to clean the terminals if they are corroded or dirty. If there is a light amount of dust wiping them off with a microfiber cloth should be sufficient. If there is an excessive amount of dirt then using some electrical cleaner spray and a wire brush, steel wool, etc. should be sufficient for cleaning the connections. I think you would have noticed when performing the fix if the connections required cleaning. The G218 ground seems to be the most common cause of electrical issues, but is not the only cause. Your issues could be caused by any number of grounds on the truck. In my instance, the electrical issues were caused by a bad negative battery cable and terminal. The terminal and cable both needed to be replaced. It is also possible that the ground has a break or short somewhere along the wire. Unfortunately, the cause of electrical issues is hard to pin point as most electrical issues are very similar and inconsistent regardless of what connection is causing them. Good luck, I hope you track down the ground that is causing your issues. You can find an up fitter's electrical guide and that would give you a great starting point to determine where all of the grounds are and what ones might be worth checking.

Mcarlo24 · June 6, 2018

Adam... Thanks for the response.. I had the battery tested yesterday and even though its 4 years old, it tested OK.. I am having my Truck looked at today Wednesday at the dealer and we will see what they come up with.. I dropped it off last night and thought maybe I should try to recreate the issues myself becasue I know that's one of their famous responses... I stopped the Truck, Turned on My AC full Power, Put my left hand turn signal on and SLOWLY started turning Left and wouldn't ya know it, the AC gave out for a second and so did the the Power Steering... Stay Tuned

ClassicPredator · June 6, 2018

I was convinced it was the G218 and told the dealership after paying a $160 for a software upgrade that didn't make the issue go away like they said it would that they needed to fix the G218 ground, they did and said it want the issue
So my truck would act up more often when I was hauling my 6.5ft x 12ft landscape trailer and hardly ever without it. It happened a few times after they couldn't find the issue and I got the truck back, then all of a sudden it hasn't done tge Stabilitrak issue in over 2 weeks
They told me to bring it in with my trailer so they could diagnose the issue but since then it hasn't happened

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Mcarlo24 · June 11, 2018

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 7:36 AM, Mcarlo24 said:

Adam... Thanks for the response.. I had the battery tested yesterday and even though its 4 years old, it tested OK.. I am having my Truck looked at today Wednesday at the dealer and we will see what they come up with.. I dropped it off last night and thought maybe I should try to recreate the issues myself becasue I know that's one of their famous responses... I stopped the Truck, Turned on My AC full Power, Put my left hand turn signal on and SLOWLY started turning Left and wouldn't ya know it, the AC gave out for a second and so did the the Power Steering... Stay Tuned

So the Dealer looked at it last Wednesday and said it was the battery... The #6 Cell was bad... I was kinda a happy with that answer... So I picked one up on the way Home and Man, they aren't cheap, $175 after getting $15 core charge back... I installed on Friday and so far so good... None of my 6 symptoms have occurred yet...

jnh92 · August 8, 2018

I have the same exact issue and took it in for a recall that should address this issue on MOnday but today it started doing it again. I removed the dash cover and could not locate this on my 2014 Chevy Silverado Z71, do you know if it's different for this model?

sk · August 8, 2018

2 hours ago, jnh92 said:

I have the same exact issue and took it in for a recall that should address this issue on MOnday but today it started doing it again. I removed the dash cover and could not locate this on my 2014 Chevy Silverado Z71, do you know if it's different for this model?

If you are talking about the G218 ground it's the same for all trucks from 2014-2018. Once you take the forward part of the dash cover off it is way up in the front corner near the base of the windshield. It helps if you take the tweeter out first (you don't need to do this but it makes access easier). There is also a similar one on the passenger side. I'm not sure exactly what it grounds but while the dash cover is off I did the same thing to that one just to be safe.

I haven't had any more electrical issues since I cleaned and re-tightened these grounds (about 20,000 miles ago).

jnh92 · August 8, 2018

Ok, I’ll try removing the dash again and this time removing the tweeter speaker because i didn’t see the ground cables at all. Thanks for the response and will let everyone know what I find.

Thank you very much

sk · August 9, 2018

23 hours ago, jnh92 said:

Ok, I’ll try removing the dash again and this time removing the tweeter speaker because i didn’t see the ground cables at all. Thanks for the response and will let everyone know what I find.

Thank you very much

Just follow the video in the first post of this thread. He points right to the ground stud on the driver's side.

jnh92 · August 11, 2018

I did this and did not see anything pinched under the terminals. I’m back to square one. Maybe I’ll test the battery, it’s only 6 months old but you never know.

sk · August 13, 2018

On 8/10/2018 at 8:21 PM, jnh92 said:

I did this and did not see anything pinched under the terminals. I’m back to square one. Maybe I’ll test the battery, it’s only 6 months old but you never know.

I didn't see any material pinched either but noticed that the dash surface is painted. Just to be safe I removed the nut and wire lug then sanded the surface under the nut with emery cloth so metal was exposed. I then reinstalled the nut and torqued it down good (no rating - just tighter than it was before I took it off). I did this to the passenger side ground at the same time since I already had the dash cover off. YMMV but that seems to have fixed the electrical issues for me.

Edited August 13, 2018 by sk

jnh92 · August 13, 2018

Wow, didn’t think about that, but as I look at my pic that is certainly a possibility. Thanks for the information

jnh92 · September 23, 2018

Well, I just rechecked the ground and it appears to be fine. No paint underneath the stud, all clean. I'm not sure what next. Maybe have the battery tested, it's a new one.